Page 6 of The Merriest Christmas

"I mean, it's going fine.I like your sweater.Looks good on you."

She glanced down at her plain gray sweatshirt then back to him and said, "Thanks.I like yours too."

"You do?" he asked.

"Yeah, really brings out your eyes."Rose gave him another smile then looked my way.She held up a bag I hadn't noticed."Heard you say something about needing more food.I brought a family-size bag of marshmallows.Will that help?

"It will," I said, though I knew we'd probably need more than that."Thank you so much, Rose."

"No problem," she said then tilted her head."So, book club.Have either of you read the book?"

"Not yet," I said at the same time as Finn said, "Yeah."

Rose lifted a brow at Finn."Are you loving the heroine as much as I am?"

"Hell yeah," he said."And the world building is crazy."

"Right?It's like the authors know exactly how to draw us in."

And then they were off, talking books, and I was left alone.

Which was awesome because all I wanted to do at that point was decompress and read a little.I'd just sat down on the couch and cracked open my hardback when there was a knock at the door.

Brow furrowed, I rose and went to answer.

It was too early to be any of my brothers.

Their flights weren't set to arrive for a while.

Maybe one of the baseball players locked themselves out?

When I opened the door, I looked up and saw the one person who could ruin my holiday.I frowned up at him, hoping, praying he was a hallucination.But all he did was stare back at me.

"Emilia," John aka Seaver said.

"What are you doing here?" I said and crossed my arms.

"I was invited."

"By who?"

I felt like growling when his lips tipped up in a grin that I remembered, no matter how hard I tried to forget.

"It couldn't have been Finn.You two were never that close, and I don't even know you," I said.

He leaned in, bringing his warmth with him, and I hated how much it affected me.

"Now, we both know that's a lie," he said quietly.

"Really?Johnathon, John, Seaver, I don't even know your name."

"It's Seaver."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," he said quietly, "but it's nice to know you memorized all of them.Just in case."

I'd had enough."Again, why are you here?It's obvious that no one invited you.Are you trying to ruin everyone's Christmas?"

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